Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy(遗产) was far greater that just “great-literature”.
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A White Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas” - not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today.
In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day-unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth-“home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickens” poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian London.
He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy(官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about poverty in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”.The article is mainly about .
A.a brief introduction to Charles Dickens’ |
B.Charles Dickens’ impact on the world |
C.the characters in Charles Dickens’ stories |
D.Charles Dickens’ achievements in literature |
Why is Dickens’ called “the man who invented Christmas”?
A.Because he created both religious and culture festival. |
B.Because his novels have something to do with Christmas. |
C.Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations. |
D.Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas. |
We can learn from the passage that .
A.Charles Dickens’ novels reflect the true life at his age |
B.Dickensian is widely used to describe the Christmas |
C.Every person can take three days off for Christmas |
D.The theme of Charles Dickens’ stories is about poverty |
According to the passage the phrase “red tape” refers to .
A.regulations that are required to finish a task |
B.a situation where poor members of society are hurt |
C.conflict between people in power and weaker people |
D.agreements made by the underclass of society |
D
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their repertoire (能发出的全部声音). This self-imitation leads on to deliberate (有意识的) imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.
1. By "... challenges explanation" Line 2, Para.1. the author means that ______.
A. no explanation is necessary for such an obvious phenomenon
B. no explanation has been made up to now
C. it's no easy job to provide an adequate explanation
D. it's high time that an explanation was provided
2. The third paragraph is mainly about _____.
A. the development of babies' early forms of language
B. the difficulties of babies in learning to speak
C. babies' strong desire to communicate
D. babies' intention to communicate
3. The author's purpose in writing the second paragraph is to show that children _______.
A. usually obey without asking questions
B. are passive in the process of learning to speak
C. are born cooperative D. learn to speak by listening
4. From the passage we learn that ______.
A. early starters can learn to speak within only six months
B. children show a strong desire to communicate by making noises
C. imitation plays an important role in learning to speak
D. children have various difficulties in learning to speak
5. The best title for this passage would be ______.
A. How Babies Learn to Speak B. Early Forms of Language
C. A Huge Task for Children D. Noise Making and language Learning
C
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1.The text is most likely to be found in.
A.a scientific research report B.a travel magazine
C.a weekly newspaper D.a geography textbook
2.Who will be most interested in reading the advertisement?
A.Accountants. B.Students.
C.Investors. D.Professors.
3.What is the function of Investment Portfolio Fund?
A.Exposing your money to the ups and downs of the direct investment into shares.
B.Helping lower risk with the potential for higher returns.
C.Hiring no less than five leading fund managers.
D.Giving a detailed description of balanced management requirement.
4.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?
A.The five fund managers with different approaches to investment can cooperate with each other perfectly.
B.Marks&Spencer Financial Services reassure the investors that their interests will be well 1ooked after.
C.Clay Finlay can identify international market opportunities and especially select companies with strong growth chances.
D.Gmo Woolley will be looking for companies that can offer excellent growth chances.
B
Part Ⅰ starts with a brief introductory chapter and then takes up Style and Organization, covering them in that order because skill or lack of skill in style affects all writing, while much technical writing is so short as to offer no problems of organization. These chapters are followed by one on Mechanics, covering matters of form that are peculiar(独有) to technical writing or else crop up in it with abnormal frequency.
The chapter on Special Problems, which follows, performs a double function. It provides writing assignments that may be used while the study of style, organization, and mechanics is still under way, and it explains ways of handling certain problems that may arise during the writing of reports, proposals, and other longer forms. We have also expanded the treatment of technical articles — recognizing the potential contribution of article writing to the career of the writer and the value of the article to science and technology.
In Part Ⅱ, a change of emphasis at one point is reflected in the new title for Chapter 8, Nonformal Reports — Their Variation in Form and Purpose, which was formerly called Special Types of Reports. Though certain special types of reports are still discussed, additional emphasis is given to the fact that there does not exist any universally accepted set of types, under which all reports can be classified.
Two other extensive changes have been made in Part Ⅱ: The chapter on Proposals, which first appeared in the second edition, has been rewritten and substantially expanded so as to cover that important subject more thoroughly. Also, an entirely new chapter, Oral Presentation of Technical Information, has been added. Though a study of this chapter is no substitute for training in public speaking, we believe that its recommendations can nevertheless be of substantial assistance to those who use this book on the numerous occasions when they will be called upon to present their ideas in person before a small group or a large audience.
1.The passage is most probably a preface to ____.
A. a technical writing handbook B. a handbook on composition
C. a book on a literary writing D. a scientific paper
2. In Part I, the writer arranges the chapters in the order of ____.
A. Introduction—Organization—Special Problems—Style—Nonformal Reports
B. Introduction—Style—Organization—Special Types of Reports—Mechanics
C. Introduction—Style—Organization—Mechanics—Special Problems
D. Introduction—Style—Proposals—Special Problems—Mechanics
3.You can find some writing exercises in ____.
A. the chapter on Organization B. the chapter on Style
C. the chapter on Special Problems D. the chapter on Proposals
4. According to the passage, the chapter on Oral Presentation of Technical Information appears in ____ of the book.
A. Part Ⅰ of the first edition
B. Part Ⅱ of the second edition
C. Part Ⅰ of the second edition
D. Part Ⅱ of the third edition
5. Which of the following is not true of Part Ⅱ of the new edition?
A. There isn’t the chapter on Special Types of Reports.
B. The chapter on Oral Presentation of Technical Information is rewritten and expanded.
C. The chapter on Proposals is a revised chapter.
D. There is a change of the title of Chapter 8.
第三部分:阅读理解
请认真阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项.
A
In the debates about how a particular piece of land is to be used, the priorities often conflict. What should you do, for example, if you find out that under the fertile fields of a farming community there is a thick bed of coal which can be strip mined(露天矿) ? Strip mining tears up top soil and plants. But mining may create jobs, bring money to the towns businesses. Those who approve of strip mining say that the coal is needed, and they point out that it is quicker and cheaper to get coal from the surface than to go deep into the earth to get it by standard mining techniques. On the other hand, it takes nature 500 years to create an inch of top soil. As the countryside fills up, people are becoming more aware of the need for open space. Nearly every proposal for a new power plant, highway, or airport draws fierce opposition. Everyone wants the big, land-eating “uglies” to be in someone else’s backyard. Minneapolis and St.Paul, Minnesota, for example, have been debating about the site of a future airport for years. Yet if a new airport is needed, it will have to go somewhere.
How do we find our way out of the land-used problem? One way might be to reexamine our values, to think in new directions. Does everyone have to have a car with its need for highways and parking lots? What about developing mass transport systems that use less land? Do suburbs have to spread? Can they be designed so they use less space? Do we have to have more energy? If we do, do we really have to strip-mine coal to provide it?
However difficult they may be to arrive at, choices will have to be made if we want to preserve the beauty and usefulness of the land. For there is at least one point on which all of us can agree: The land does have its limits.
1. The word “priorities” in the sentence means ____.
A. the various needsB. the most important goal
C. the number one necessity D. the first thing to be considered
2. “…, people are becoming more aware of the need for open space. ” tells us that ____.
A. people are thinking to develop their living space into the sky
B. people noticed the need for unoccupied land
C. people are struggling to get more land from the space
D. people are becoming more active on the space issue
3. How do we find our way out of the land use problems?
A. One way might be to reexamine our values, to think in new directions.
B. Everyone has to have a car with its need for highways and parking lots.
C. We have to have more energy. We need strip-mine coal to provide it.
D. We may develop mass transit systems which use less land.
4. “Everyone wants the big, land-eating ‘uglies’ to be in someone else s backyard.” shows that .
A. people don t want more big projects
B. people don t want to live in the neighborhood of the big projects
C. people regard the large construction projects are “uglies ”
D. people don t like the undesirable building projects
5. The main idea of this article is ____.
A. The Limits of Land B. Land
C. Land and Our Life Styles D. Land and Space
第五部分书面表达 (满分25分)
随着“开心农场”“QQ农场”等娱乐游戏风靡互联网,许多中学生也加入了偷菜的行列。请你根据下表的内容,用英语写一篇短文,并谈谈你个人的看法。
现象 |
1. 沉迷其中,乐此不疲;2. 身在课堂,心在农场; 3. 作业拖拉,成绩下降。 |
原因 |
1. 寻找农耕的乐趣; 2. 释放学习的压力;3. 拉近朋友的距离。 |
你的看法 |
……(至少两点) |
注意:1. 不要逐字翻译表格提示内容,应适当发挥。2. 开头已给出,不算入总词数。
3. 词数:150左右。
Nowadays, QQ Farm and Happy Farm are very popular among people from all walks of
life. A large number of middle school students are also involved in the game.
__________________________________________________________________________